ELIA 4, 2003, 17-34
REQUESTS IN FILMS AND IN EFL TEXTBOOKS:
A COMPARISON1
Ana Fe nández Gue a y Alicia Ma ínez Flo
Uni e si a Jaume I
Resea ch in he ield o in e language p agma ics has shown ha o eign
language lea ne s’ g amma ical and p agma ic compe ences do no always
ma ch, his can pe haps be due o a lack o app op ia e p agma ic
p esen a ion in cu en EFL ex books. Hence, he e seems o be a necessi y
o b inging au hen ic discou se in o he class oom. One o he possibili ies
could be using ilms as inpu o de elop class oom asks. In his pape we
analyse and compa e he ype, s a egy and equency o eques s in bo h
ex books and ilms, in o de o ealise whe he hey p o ide an adequa e
ea men o his p agma ic issue. Resul s show an insu icien , un eal, de-
con ex ualised, and p agma ically inapp op ia e use o eques ing s a egies
in he EFL ex books analysed. We he e o e p opose using scenes om ilms
as an au hen ic and mo i a ing ype o ma e ial which p o ides ins ances o
eal use o language and p esen s di e en eques s in con ex ualised
si ua ions.
Key wo ds: p agma ic compe ence, eques s, ilms, EFL ex books.
1 This s udy is pa o a esea ch p ojec unded by a g an om he Au onomous Go e nmen
o he Valencian Communi y (GV-00-147-09) and a g an om Caixa Cas elló-Bancaixa
(P1.1A2000-14).
Es udios de
lingüís ica inglesa aplicada
18 A. Fdez Gue a y A. M nez Flo
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
1. In oduc ion
The aim o his pape is wo old: (1) o compa e he occu ence and
ealisa ion o eques s in h ee widely used EFL ex books and h ee
Ame ican ilms; and (2) o explo e he possibili ies o using ilms as a use ul
ool o de eloping p agma ic compe ence in he class oom. Fi s , howe e ,
we will e iew he li e a u e dealing wi h p agma ic compe ence and speech
ac ealisa ion.
Celce-Mu cia e al. (1995: 9), o ins ance, e e o p agma ic
compe ence as ac ional compe ence, and de ine i as “compe ence in
con eying and unde s anding communica i e in en by pe o ming and
in e p e ing speech ac s and speech ac se s”. Being one o he main
componen s o communica i e compe ence, p agma ic o ac ional
compe ence is now one o he main cen es o a en ion o many esea che s
and me hodologis s. This conce n is clea i we ake in o accoun ha an
inapp op ia e use o language can lead o p agma ic ailu e. Ac ually,
esea ch in he ield o in e language p agma ics has shown ha o eign
language lea ne s’ g amma ical and p agma ic compe ences o en do no
ma ch, due, o some ex en , o a lack o app op ia e p agma ic p esen a ion in
cu en EFL ex books. Fo eign language s uden s —unlike second language
lea ne s, who a e in con ac wi h he a ge language—, ha e only go he
possibili y, in mos cases, o acqui e he p agma ic-discou se aspec s o he
o eign language in an ins uc ional con ex . Thus, he inpu lea ne s a e
exposed o in he class oom by means o eache alk and ex books is a key
ac o in de e mining hei communica i e compe ence.
1.1. P agma ic compe ence and EFL ex books
Se e al esea che s ha e a gued ha he e is a lack o na u al con e sa ional
models ep esen ing he eal use o language, as well as an a i icial
p esen a ion o speech ac s a egies in he ex books s uden s ha e o use
du ing hei lea ning p ocess (Ba do i-Ha lig e al., 1991; Boxe and
Picke ing, 1995; Meie , 1997; Salaza and Usó, 2001; Alcón and Sa on ,
Reques s in ilms and in EFL ex books… 19
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
2001; e c.). Among he s udies dealing wi h speech ac s, Boxe and
Picke ing (1995) ocused on he ealisa ion o complain s in se en ELT
' unc ional' ex s. They de e mined ha he examples con aining complain s
we e based on he au ho s’ in ui ions, only p esen ing ins ances o di ec
complain s (ins ead o ep esen ing he ac ual speech beha iou in
spon aneous in e ac ions, in which indi ec complain s seem o be much
mo e equen han di ec complain s). They also epo ed a lack o
unde lying social s a egies in he speech ac p esen a ion. Simila ly, Meie
(1997) c i icised he p esen a ion o speech ac s in EFL ma e ials along a
di ec ness/poli eness scale, and concluded ha ex books exhibi an a bi a y
selec ion which does no pay a en ion o con ex ual ac o s, and ha his
inapp op ia e p esen a ion o speech ac s may also cause lea ne s’ ailu e
and p oblems o misunde s anding in he a ge language. This inapp op ia e
ea men o speech ac s was also he ocus o a en ion in he s udy ca ied
ou by Salaza and Usó (2001), who examined eques s in se e al ou ism
cou sebooks, and ound ha he speech ac unde analysis was embedded in
exe cises ocusing on syn ac ic s uc u es lea ing aside he communica i e
in en o eques ing. Alcón and Sa on (2001) compa ed he occu ence o
eques s, sugges ions and ad ice in EFL ma e ials and in an o al co pus
con aining spon aneous con e sa ions, and came o simila conclusions
ega ding he a i icial and inapp op ia e desc ip ion o speech ac s in he
ex books, since only he linguis ic o ms had been aken in o accoun .
1.2. P agma ic compe ence and he use o ilms in he class oom
Bea ing in mind his a i iciali y in he p esen a ion o p agma ic in o ma ion
in ex books, he e seems o be a necessi y o b inging au hen ic discou se
in o he class oom, and one possible way may be h ough audio isual media.
Video inpu , in ac , has long been used as a language eaching esou ce; and
a ai ly la ge numbe o schola s (A hu , 1999; Canning-Wilson, 2000;
G an and S a ks, 2001; Rose, 2001; and Ryan, 1998, among o he s) ha e
al eady p aised he use o ideo sequences in he class oom. Ryan (1998),
o ins ance, sugges s he use o ilms in he class oom in o de o de elop
lea ne mo i a ion and ac i a e hei cogni i e domains. Canning-Wilson
20 A. Fdez Gue a y A. M nez Flo
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
(2000), Henessey (1995), Ha (1992) and Wybu d (1995) also poin ou ha
he use o audio isual ma e ials p o ide a con ex ualised iew o language
and helps lea ne s isualise wo ds and meanings. Along hese lines, A hu
(1999) epo s ha
Video can gi e s uden s ealis ic models o imi a e o ole-play; can
inc ease awa eness o o he cul u es by eaching app op ia eness and
sui abili y; can s eng hen audio/ isual linguis ic pe cep ions simul ane-
ously; can widen he class oom epe oi e and ange o ac i i ies; can help
u ilize he la es echnology o acili a e language lea ning; can each di ec
obse a ion o he pa alinguis ic ea u es ound in associa ion wi h he
a ge language; can be used o help when aining s uden s in ESP ela ed
scena ios and language; can o e a isual ein o cemen o he a ge
language and can lowe anxie y when p ac icing he skill o lis ening.
Mo ing on o speci ic discou se-p agma ic aspec s ha migh a ec
lea ne s' p agma ic compe ence, Rose (1997, 2001) has ca ied ou se e al
s udies suppo ing he use o ilms, a guing ha “in o eign language
con ex s, exposu e o ilm is gene ally he closes ha language lea ne s will
e e ge o wi nessing o pa icipa ing in na i e speake in e ac ion” (Rose,
1997: 283). In he same way, G an and S a k (2001: 49) claim ha
ele ision con e sa ions p o ide a wide a ie y o unc ional con e sa ional
English, imi a e na u al speech and ollow cul u al and linguis ic beha iou
o bo h he language and he pa icipan s.
2. The s udy
Based on he p e ious da a and he ele an li e a u e men ioned abo e, his
s udy ocuses on a speci ic aspec o p agma ic compe ence: con eying and
unde s anding communica i e in en by pe o ming and in e p e ing he
speech ac o eques ing; and o mula es he ollowing esea ch ques ions:
1. Is he e an app op ia e p esen a ion o eques s in EFL ex books?
2. Can agmen s o ilms be an e ec i e means o p esen ing and aising
lea ne s' awa eness on his issue?
Reques s in ilms and in EFL ex books… 21
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
In o de o answe hese ques ions, we decided o use h ee
p o iciency-le el ex books and h ee Ame ican ilms. Among all he
ex books a ailable, we chose P o iciency GOLD (Newb ook and Wilson,
2000), P o iciency Mas e class (Gude and Duckwo h, 1997), and The
Nelson P o iciency Cou se (Mo is and S an on, 1993), no only because o
hei wide use in some Spanish uni e si ies, bu also because no s udy up o
da e has ocused on ELT ma e ials add essing an exam, such as he
Camb idge P o iciency. The h ee ilms analysed, sui able o gene al
audiences, we e As good as i ge s (1997), While you we e sleeping (1995),
and Wa games (1983).
The da a ob ained we e analysed ollowed T osbo g’s (1995: 205)
ypology conce ning eques ealisa ion s a egies and classi ied in o i e
main ypes:
(1) Indi ec eques s (gi ing hin s), such as using s a emen s o gi ing
excuses.
(2) Con en ionally indi ec eques s based on he hea e , such as hose
based on he hea e 's abili y o pe o m he ac (Can/could you...?), he
hea e 's willingness (Would you...?), asking o pe mission
(May/migh I...?); o using sugges o y o mulae (How abou ...?, Le 's
...).
(3) Con en ionally indi ec eques s based on he speake 's wishes, desi es
o needs (I wish...; I would like...; I wan you o...; I need o ...).
(4) Di ec eques s, such as showing obliga ion (You mus ...; You ha e
o...), using pe o ma i e e bs (like I ask you o...), impe a i es (as in
Do some hing, don' do i ), o ellip ical ph ases ( o example, a woman
asking he son o ake ou he ga bage by saying The ga bage!).
(5) O he ypes o s a egies.
Tex books we e analysed comple ely, aking in o accoun no only
ex s and asks, bu also he ins uc ions gi en o do he exe cises, i.e. all
ins ances whe e a eques is ealised; i s o all, because s uden s a e

22 A. Fdez Gue a y A. M nez Flo
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
exposed o all hese linguis ic o ms when dealing wi h he con en s o hei
ex book; and secondly, because he e u ned ou o be almos no examples
o eques ing in he main eading ex s and asks2.
3. Resul s and Discussion
Table 1 shows he di e en ealisa ions ha appea in all h ee ex books.
Needless o say, one o he quan i ies is eally shocking: 85,70% o he
eques s we e pe o med using impe a i es and, as can be obse ed, he h ee
ex books con ibu e o his ex emely high pe cen age.
Type
S a egy
P o iciency Gold
P
o iciency
Mas e class
The Nelson
P
o iciency
Indi ec Hin s 0 0 3 3 0,08%
Abili y 56 70 64 190 5,52%
Willingness 23 33 8 64 1,85%
Pe mission 1 1 5 7 0,20%
Con en ionally
indi ec
(hea e -based)
Sugges o y Fo mulae 0 1 3 4 0,11%
Wishes 0 3 15 18 0,52%
Desi es 0 0 5 5 0,14%
Con en ionally
indi ec
(speake -based) Needs 0 3 1 4 0,11%
Obliga ion 22 10 75 107 3,10%
2 In ac , and al hough ins uc ions p eceding exe cises and eading ex s can e en be conside
a 'gen e' on i s own (in which lea ne s a e usually eques ed o do some hing), his g ouping
u ned o be qui e e ealing: o example, ou o 1,404 occu ences o eques s ound in
P o iciency Gold (Longman, 2000), a o al o 1,398 eques s we e in he Ins uc ion sec ions,
whe eas only 6 ins ances appea ed in he asks and ex s (see Resul s and Discussion below).
Reques s in ilms and in EFL ex books… 23
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
Pe o ma i e e bs 2 0 2 4 0,11%
Impe a i e 1,283 810 856 2,949 85,70%
Nega i e impe a i e 7 5 42 54 1,56%
Di ec
Ellip ical ph ase 0 0 4 4 0,11%
O he ypes o s a egies 10 0 18 28 0,81%
TOTAL 1,404 936 1,101 3,441 100%
Table 1. Reques s in ex books.
This eques ing beha iou clea ly limi s s uden s’ exposu e o he
ange o possible eques s a egies used in eal-li e and, hus, p e en s hem
om de eloping hei p agma ic compe ence as ega ds his pa icula
speech ac . We should, howe e , men ion ha (1) mos o hese occu ences
belong o he ins uc ions gi en o s uden s o ca y ou he exe cises, and
ha (2) hese ex books do no p o ide exempli ica ion o na u al dialogues
o any communica i e ac i i ies p omp ing his use. In ac , he e is a eally
small amoun o eques s in he eading ex s and in he ac i i ies: 6
occu ences in P o iciency Gold, 14 in P o iciency Mas e class, and 199
eques s in The Nelson P o iciency.
He e is jus a small sample o his abusi e use o impe a i es we
ha e jus men ioned:
(1) Read he ollowing sen ences and ma ch hem o he hin s
below. (P o iciency Gold, 172)
Please send us a copy o ou di ec o y. (Mas e class, 122)
Comple e each sen ence wi h one o he wo ds o ph ases gi en
(Nelson P o iciency, 2)
24 A. Fdez Gue a y A. M nez Flo
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
Di e en s a egies used o make eques s appea only in isola ed
sen ences wi hou conside ing he con ex in which hey migh be ealised.
Example (2) shows some o hese o he uses:
(2) Can you help me ackle his p oblem? (P o iciency Gold, 67)
Would you mind no smoking in he lib a y? (Mas e class, 149)
... you mus sho en i . (Nelson, 14)
We should also s a e ha he e is no explici explana ion o he
ealisa ion o eques s, excep o a sho g amma ical sec ion in P o iciency
Gold (Newb ook and Wilson, 2000: 67) dealing wi h modal e bs:
(3) The modal e bs may and migh used in eques s a e e y poli e
and o mal. Wi h a ce ain in ona ion, hey can sound sa cas ic
and unpleasan . Which o hese sen ences is poli e and which
sa cas ic?
1. I wonde i I migh ask you a big a ou ?
2. Pe haps I migh sugges ha you do his in you own ime?
3. And wha ha e you been doing, may I ask?
As onishing as i may seem, none o he h ee ex books p o ides
any communica i e exe cises o he s uden s o p ac ise he use o hese
modal e bs exp essing he speech ac o eques ing; wha 's mo e, nei he
ex s no exe cises p o ide exempli ica ion o eal-wo ld speech (excep o
a ew ph ases ha a e quo ed in he eading ex s o in he sen ences lea ne s
ha e o comple e).
As ega ds eques ing in ilms, he i s hing o commen upon is
he p esen a ion o con ex ualised speech ac s in eal-wo ld con e sa ions,
showing he ela ionship be ween pa icipan s, se ing, social s a us, and he
like. Reques s also appea mi iga ed by he use o modi ica ional de ices,
such as excuse me, please, jus o eally. Table 2 below illus a es he
di e en s a egies used when eques ing in he h ee ilms:
Reques s in ilms and in EFL ex books… 25
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
Type
S a egy
As good as i ge s
While you we e sleeping
Wa games
Occu ences
Pe cen age
Indi ec Hin s 3 17 14 34 6,65%
Abili y 18 16 14 48 9,39%
Willingness 2 8 21 31 6,06%
Pe mission 6 3 2 11 2,15%
Con en ionally
indi ec
(hea e -based)
Sugges o y Fo mulae 5 3 3 11 2,15%
Wishes 0 3 0 3 0,58%
Desi es 6 7 18 31 6,06%
Con en ionally
indi ec
(speake - based) Needs 2 6 4 12 2,34%
Obliga ion 4 8 6 18 3,52%
Pe o ma i e e bs 2 3 0 5 0,97%
Impe a i e 76 33 104 213 41,68%
Nega i e impe a i e 14 7 11 32 6,26%
Di ec
Ellip ical ph ase 0 0 10 10 1,95%
O he ypes o s a egies 27 19 6 52 10,17%
TOTAL 165 133 213 511 100%
Table 2. Reques s in ilms.
As can be obse ed, he e is a wide a ie y o eques s a egies
which ange om indi ec o di ec ealisa ions, al hough he mos employed
ca ego y belongs o he impe a i e ype (41,68%), due o he si ua ion o
32 A. Fdez Gue a y A. M nez Flo
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
Re e ences
Alcón, E. and Sa on , P. 2001. “Occu ence o exho a i e speech ac s in
ELT ma e ials and na u al speech da a: A ocus on eques , sugges ion
and ad ice ealisa ion s a egies”, SELL: S udies in English Language
and Linguis ics, ol. 3: 5-22.
A hu , P. 1999. "Why use ideo? A eache 's pe spec i e". VSELT 2: 4.
Ba do i-Ha lig, K., Ha o d, B.S., Mahan-Taylo , R., Mo gan, M.J. and
Reynolds, D.W. 1991. “De eloping p agma ic awa eness: Closing he
con e sa ion”. ELT Jou nal 45: 4-15.
Boxe , D. and Picke ing, L. 1995. "P oblems in he p esen a ion o speech
ac s in ELT ma e ials: The case o complain s". ELT Jou nal 49: 44-
58.
Cannin-Wilson, C. 2000. "P ac ical aspec s o using ideo in he o eign
language class oom", The In e ne TESL Jou nal, ol. VI, 11.
Celce-Mu cia, M., Dö nyei, Z., and Thu ell, S. 1995. “Communica i e
compe ence: A pedagogically mo i a ed model wi h con en
speci ica ions”. Issues in Applied Linguis ics 6: 5-35.
Cohen, A.D. 1996. "De eloping he abili y o pe o m speech ac s". S udies
in Second Language Acquisi ion 18: 253-267.
G an , L. and S a ks, D. 2001. "Sc eening app op ia e eaching ma e ials.
Closings om ex books and ele ision soap ope as". IRAL 39: 39-50.
Gude, K. and Duckwo h, M. 1997 (1994). P o iciency Mas e class.
S uden ’s Book. Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess.
Ha , I. 1992. "Video, o eign languages eaching and he documen a y
adi ion". Sys em 20: 1-13.
Henessey, J.M. 1995. "Using o eign ilms o de elop p o iciency and o
mo i a e he o eign language s uden ". Fo eign Language Annals 28:
116-120.

Reques s in ilms and in EFL ex books… 33
ELIA 4, 2003, pp. 17-34
Meie , A.J. 1997. "Teaching he uni e sals o poli eness". ELT Jou nal 51/1:
21-28.
Mo is, S. and S an on, A. 1993 (1990). The Nelson P o iciency Cou se.
London: Nelson ELT.
Newb ook, J. and Wilson, J. 2000. P o iciency Gold Cou sebook. London:
Longman.
Rose, K.R. 1997. “P agma ics in he class oom: Theo e ical conce ns and
p ac ical possibili ies”, in L.F. Bou on (ed.), P agma ics and language
lea ning, U bana, IL: Uni e si y o Illinois a U bana-Champaign, ol.
8: 267-295.
Rose, K.R. 2001. “Complimen s and complimen esponses in ilm:
Implica ions o p agma ics esea ch and language eaching”. IRAL
39: 309-326.
Ryan, S. 1998. "Using ilms o de elop lea ne mo i a ion". The In e ne
TESL Jou nal, ol. IV, 11.
Salaza , P. and Usó, E. 2001. “The speech ac o eques ing in ESP
ma e ials”, in S. Pos eguillo, I. Fo ane and J.C. Palme (eds.)
Me hodology and new echnologies in languages o speci ic
pu poses. Cas ellón: Publicacions de la Uni e si a Jaume I, Es udis
Filològics, 6: 95-105.
T osbo g, A. 1995. In e language p agma ics. Reques s, Complain s and
Apologies. Be lin: Mou on de G uy e .
Wybu d, J. 1995. "Sugges ed s a egies o he use o au hen ic isual
ma e ials". Tu i alia 11: 9-11.